The Riddle of Hume's Treatise

Skepticism, Naturalism, and Irreligion

Paul Russell

Presents a compelling and original view of Hume's fundamental intentions throughout his greatest and most ambitious philosophical text
Provides a detailed account of the historical roots of Hume's irreligious philosophical intentions in the wider context of the Radical Enlightenment
Relevant to the contemporary debate concerning "the new atheism"
Will be of interest to intellectual historians and philosophers of religion, as well as to historians of early modern philosophy

The Riddle of Hume's Treatise

Skepticism, Naturalism, and Irreligion

Paul Russell

Description

Although it is widely recognized that David Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature (1729-40) belongs among the greatest works of philosophy, there is little aggreement about the correct way to interpret his fundamental intentions.
The solution to this riddle depends on challenging another, closely related, point of orthodoxy: namely, that before Hume published the Treatise he removed almost all material concerned with problems of religion. Russell argues, contrary to this view, that irreligious aims and objectives are fundamental to the Treatise and account for its underlying unity and coherence. It is Hume's basic anti-Christian aims and objectives that serve to shape and direct both his skeptical and naturalistic commitments. When Hume's arguments are viewed from this perspective we can solve, not only puzzles arising from his discussion of various specific issues, we can also explain the intimate and intricate connections that hold his entire project together.

This "irreligious" interpretation provides a comprehensive fresh account of the nature of Hume's fundamental aims and ambitions in the Treatise. It also presents a radically different picture of the way in which Hume's project was rooted in the debates and controversies of his own time, placing the Treatise in an irreligious or anti-Christian philosophical tradition that includes Hobbes, Spinoza and freethinking followers. Considered in these terms, Hume's Treatise constitutes the crowning achievement of the Radical Enlightenment.

The Riddle of Hume's Treatise

Skepticism, Naturalism, and Irreligion

Paul Russell

Abbreviations of Hume's Writings Used in Citations
I. Riddles, Critics, and Monsters: Text and Context
1. The Riddle
2. "Atheism" and Hume's Early Critics
3. Religious Philosophers and Speculative Atheists
4. Newtonianism, Freethought, and Hume's Scottish Context
5. The Monster of Atheism: Its Being and Attributes
II. The Form and Face of Hume's System
6. A Hobbist Plan
7. Atheism under Cover: Esoteric Communication on Hume's Title Pages
III. The Nature of Hume's Universe
8. Blind Men before a Fire: Empiricism and the Idea of Good
9. Making Nothing of "Almighty Space"
10. The Argument a Priori and Hume's "Curious Nostrum"
11. Induction, Analogy, and a Future State: Hume's "Guide of Life"
12. Matter, Omnipotence, and Our Idea of Necessity
13. Skepticism, Deception, and the Material World
14. Immateriality, Immortality, and the Human Soul
15. The Practical Pyrrhonist
IV. The Elements of Virtuous Atheism
16. Freedom within Necessity: Hume's "Clockwork Man"
17. Morality without Religion
V. Hume's Philosophy of Irreligion
18. The Myth of "Castration" and the Riddle's Solution
19. Was Hume an "Atheist"?
20. Hume's Lucretian Mission: Is It Self-Refuting?
Appendix: Cato's Speech at the Oracle of Ammon
Notes
Bibliography
Index

The Riddle of Hume's Treatise

Skepticism, Naturalism, and Irreligion

Paul Russell

Author Information

Paul Russell, Professor in Philosophy, University of British Columbia and Lund University.

Paul Russell is Professor in Philosophy at the University of British Columbia and Lund University. His publications include Freedom and Moral Sentiment: Hume's Way of Naturalizing Responsibility (Oxford University Press, 1995); The Riddle of Hume's Treatise: Skepticism, Naturalism, and Irreligion (Oxford University Press, 2008); and editor of The Philosophy of Free Will (Oxford University, 2013).

The Riddle of Hume's Treatise

Skepticism, Naturalism, and Irreligion

Paul Russell

Reviews and Awards

Winner of the Journal of the History of Philosophy Prize for the Best Book on the History of Philosophy, 2008

"Paul Russell has given us a marvelously good book.... [He] offers original and compelling accounts of the irreligious implications of central arguments of the Treatise on an impressive range of topics....it should never again be claimed that the Treatise is largely unconcerned with questions of religion." - Don Garrett, Philosophical Review

"This book is a triumph and a model for work in the history of philosophy. It offers a powerful reading of the Treatise and of Hume's intentions in writing it, while also correcting common misunderstandings about Hume's place in early modern thought. It deserves to be read by anyone interested in Hume or in early modern philosophy." - Colin Heydt, Journal of the History of Philosophy

"Paul Russell's The Riddle of Hume's Treatise is one of the most important contributions to Hume scholarship of recent years, and deserves to be read by all who wish to untangle the complex threads of Hume's masterpiece. It ranks as a permanent and significant achievement." - Peter Millican, British Journal of the History of Philosophy

"This is a terrific tome.... Why is this book so important? Quite simply, this is one of the best contextualist studies of Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature ever written. To elaborate a bit, this book provides a unique and fascinating interpretation of the Treatise by relating its structure and content to many of the most influential debates about religion raging at Hume's time.... one of the best books on Hume I have ever read. " - Kevin Meeker, Mind